Musicians, in particular those musicians who play stringed instruments having a neck and body, are often burdened by their instrument especially in an informal setting. Stringed instruments with a body and neck are often very cumbersome and expensive, so they cannot be safely placed on the ground when not in use for fear that they may be accidently damaged. Therefore, most musicians will also bring with them a stand to store the instrument in an upright position when not in use. In addition to transporting their instrument and a stand for their instrument, most musicians will also be required to travel with some form of stool or chair to sit on during the performance. However, in many circumstances bringing several items to a “gig” can be impractical or even impossible depending on the space available for transportation. Moreover, space can be limited at the site of the gig and in some cases additional items brought to the performance may have to be concealed. Therefore, traveling with an instrument stand and some form of seating apparatus is impractical or impossible.
To address some of these concerns, portable and lightweight stands have been developed that can be easily transported with the instrument. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,029,796, 6,533,228 and 6,462,260 all disclose collapsible musical instrument stands, which take up less space and/or are lighter then conventional musical instrument stands. However, none of these prior art references describe musical instrument stands that can also be used by the musician as a seat during a performance. U.S. Design Pat. No. 355,773 illustrates a stool designed to accommodate a musical instrument with a body and neck, by having a neck support permanently provided on the seat of the stool and brackets for the base of the instrument attached to the legs of the stool. Although U.S. Design Pat. No. 355,773 provides a combined musical instrument stand and stool, the device is not easily transportable and the supports for the musical instrument are permanently attached to the stool, which in some cases could interfere with the usability of the stool.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,315 discloses a foldable stool and stringed instrument stand, wherein the seat of the stool is designed to provide a rest for the neck of the instrument and supports are provided on each of the front legs of the stool to support the body of the guitar. Although U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,315 provides a portable combined stool and stringed instrument stand, the device has to provided with a seat height sufficient enough to support the neck of the instrument, which can make sitting on the stool during a performance uncomfortable. In addition, a back is not provided on the stool which will lead to fatigue for the musician during long performances. Furthermore, the foldable stool and musical instrument cannot be placed in a conventional container, such as a guitar case, for transportation on airplanes, trains, buses or the like.